Kyle Belleque

Nushagak Kennels Sponsors

Thank you to our 2007-2008 Sponsors!

Ocean Beauty SeafoodsProviding air travel to Bethel and home again for the dogs, gear, and humans.Happy Tails Boarding and Pet SuppliesProviding the straw and bedding working dogs need for a good night's sleep.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Friday, July 11, 2008

Received a call yesterday morning from our neighbor Lisa. On her way to work she saw a loose dog in our driveway and went to put him back on his chain. Lisa is very familiar with our dogs, trains one of them, and a is great all around dog woman. She found more then just one loose dog.

Four dogs were loose, two injured. Jerry, one of our new sprint dogs, was hiding in another dog's house obviously very terrified. He had been through an ordeal with some nasty cuts, one of them pretty bad. Luke, one of my main leaders, was carrying a front leg that had been bitten. Both Luke and Jerry had backed out of their collars. The other two dogs some how got off their chains with no injuries.

Lisa put the dogs back on their chains and brought Jerry home where she treated his wounds. Both Luke and Jerry are on antibiotics and in a stroke of luck the vet will be in town tonight. Both Jerry and Luke will get a thorough exam. None of the other dogs had any injuries. Both the dogs and I are very fortunate to have such a great neighbor. Lisa is a great lady with a big heart. Jerry couldn't be in better hands.

Our land is in a very bear rich area. Much of this is my fault. I've been cooking a lot of fish for the dogs. There's big stinky dog pot, lots of buckets, etc. all smelling very good to a bear. Those smells most likely called him in. I need to devise a permanent plan to deal with bears. Would help to enclose my dog pot cooker and buckets with electric wire. That doesn't protect the dogs however. One answer would be to encircle the entire dog yard with electric wire. Need to price some of this stuff out.

I'm guessing that the bear came up our dog trail off the flats, then cut in to the dog yard where he encountered Jerry going crazy. He grabbed Jerry before Jerry slipped his collar and escaped. Then he circled the dog yard toward the shed. With three loose dogs, I half wonder if they didn't get together and harass the bear running him off. He only picked up the dog pot and carried it about 20 feet. Didn't touch any buckets, didn't break into the shed where the freezer was. Seems like if the smells brought him in he would have spent more time digging around.

I think everyone will be O.K. thanks to Lisa and I need to be more diligent about keeping a clean dog yard.

Note: After a visit to the vet today (7/12/2008), he thought I was dealing with a big dog fight, not a bear attack. The number of bite marks observed on the one dog looked like a good old fashioned gang-up style dog fight. That very well could have been. With four loose dogs, that could be exactly what happened. One way or another, the mear thought of a bear in my dog yard gives cause for diligence in keeping a cleaner dog yard. No matter what happened, I'm still thankful for all Lisa did to look after my injured dog.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Johanna and I would like to introduce our new baby girl, Aimee Kate Belleque.Born 10:29 PM July 8, 20087lbs 10oz20.5 inches

Johanna was induced the morning of the 8th. I arrived in Anchorage right after Johanna's water broke and drove her straight to the Alaska Native Medical Center. Everyone is doing fine. She seems a very content baby so far.

The following pictures were all taken right after Aimee was born.

Johanna and her new baby.

Alethia and Aimee. Aimee could not ask for a better big sister, her Ulla.

Johanna's sister Michelle, Alethia, and Aimee.

Aimee being held by her cousin Megan. Alethia made it into most of the pictures.

We've been looking forward to this for some time. God continues to shower our family with his love and blessings.

Friday, July 4, 2008

For those wondering, Johanna is still pregnant and not happy about it any longer. She's still in Anchorage and ready to get the show on the road. Baby was due July 1st. I almost flew in to Anchorage this weekend, but forced myself to stay here and keep at my big project.

Dad and I got the house pretty well framed up today. Just needs to be closed in with a roof and some walls. Never framed a house before. Pretty sure Dad hasn't either. Lot of research, plenty of questions for the right people, a good book from Home Depot, a big scoop of elbow grease and there it is. A house skeleton.

My goal, to have the house shelled in before going to Anchorage for the birth, is still within reach. Since the baby is clearly behind schedule that puts me just about on schedule. A hand-full of productive days and we'll have the thing shelled in. Then I'll have to start reading all those other books!